PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed
Martin (NYSE: LMT) is helping NASA begin the hunt for dark energy,
a mysterious force powering the universe's accelerating expansion.
An instrument assembly the company is developing, if selected by
NASA for production, will be the core of the primary scientific
instrument aboard the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope
(WFIRST), whose mission aims to uncover hundreds of millions more
galaxies and reveal the physics that shapes them.
Scientists and engineers recently began work developing the
Wide-Field Optical-Mechanical Assembly (WOMA) for WFIRST, NASA's
newest astrophysics telescope program. WOMA comprises the major
portion of scientific components on one of two instruments on the
telescope. NASA chose Lockheed Martin's Advanced Technology Center
(ATC) in Palo Alto to advance from
an earlier study into the formulation phase. WOMA uses similar
approaches to the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which the ATC
built as the primary optical instrument for NASA's James Webb Space
Telescope.
"Lockheed Martin scientists achieved groundbreaking results with
NIRCam's precision and sensitivity," said Jeff Vanden Beukel, WOMA program manager at
Lockheed Martin. "There's no time to lose as we support a
fast-paced schedule, and our experience with NIRCam's precision
optics positions our WOMA design to be capable, producible and on
budget."
Scientists and engineers are collaborating to design optical
systems, mechanisms, structure, electronics and thermal control
components. Similar to NIRCam, the Wide-Field Instrument on WFIRST
will be a powerful optical payload. However, WFIRST will have a
massive focal plane array, 200 times larger than NIRCam, to capture
what some liken to panoramic images of the star field.
In addition to dark energy research, WOMA will also use
microlensing to complete the census of known exoplanets.
Microlensing takes advantage of brief distortions in space to
reveal new planets around distant stars, and WFIRST's wide field of
view will allow scientists to monitor 200 million stars every 15
minutes for more than a year. When NASA launches WFIRST, it will
work in concert with other observatories to jointly research new
places and forces in our universe.
NASA plans to select a winning design next year for production,
and WFIRST is expected to launch in the mid-2020s.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda,
Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace
company that employs approximately 98,000 people worldwide and is
principally engaged in the research, design, development,
manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology
systems, products and services.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin